(July 7, 2013) Andy Murray ended 77 years of male British futility at Wimbledon on Sunday when the Scot defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 for his first Wimbledon title. The last man from Great Britain to win The Championships was Fred Perry from 1934-36.
The 15,000 fans on Centre Court and more on the grounds made their presence known with their loud vocal support.
“The atmosphere today was different to what I’ve experienced in the past,” Murray said. “It was different to last year’s final, for sure. And then, yeah, the end of the match, that was incredibly loud, very noisy.
“I’ve been saying it all week, but it does make a difference. It really helps when the crowd’s like that, the atmosphere is like that.”
Last year when Murray lost to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, the Scot said it was one of the toughest moments in his career.
After taking first set 6-4, Murray had to overcome breaks in the second and third sets, losing 4 straight games in the third set to go down 2-4. Murray regained control and won the next three games to make it 5-4.
Serving for the match was a mini-marathon in itself. Murray held three match points and then Djokovic came back to get three break points which he could not convert. Murray finally closed out the match when Djokovic hit a backhand in to the net.
The match which lasted over three hours saw so many long physical points. Djokovic committed almost twice as many errors as Murray 40-21.
“I don’t know how I managed to come through that final game, it was unbelievable, three match points,” Murray said after the match. “I’m just so glad to finally do it.”
“Winning Wimbledon I think is the pinnacle of tennis,” Murray said. “I think, yeah, I mean, the last game almost increased that feeling. You know, if I had closed it out at 40‑Love ‑‑ I worked so hard in that last game. It’s the hardest few points I’ve had to play in my life.”
“It was a very long match for three sets,” Djokovic said of the over three-hour much which saw long physical points. “The bottom line is that he was a better player in decisive moments. Both second and third sets, I was 4‑2 up and dropped the serve in those games and just allowed him to come back for no reason.”
“He played fantastic tennis, no question about it,” Djokovic said. “He deserved to win.”
“I didn’t always think it was going to happen,” Murray said of winning Wimbledon. “I didn’t doubt myself so much after last year’s final. It was the best I’d recovered from a Grand Slam loss.”
Murray now holds an 8-11 record against Djokovic and 2-1 in Grand Slam finals, the Scot also stopping the Serb to win the 2012 U.S. Open.
For his efforts, Murray netted 2.4 million dollars for capturing the title. He is on a 12-match winning streak.
Murray who missed the French Open due to a back injury has now won four tournaments in 2013 including events at Brisbane, Miami and London’s Queen’s Club.